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NASA Data Shows Pluto’s Equator Is Lined with Towering Methane Ice Spires

NASA Data Shows Pluto’s Equator Is Lined with Towering Methane Ice Spires

A July 2025 study in the Journal of Geophysical Research revealed that massive methane ice spires

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 4 August 2025 22:30 IST

NASA Data Shows Pluto’s Equator Is Lined with Towering Methane Ice Spires

Photo Credit: JPL/NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

New Horizons spotted 1000-foot methane ice spires on Pluto flyby

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Highlights

Methane ice spires on Pluto reach up to 1,000 feet tall
Bladed terrain spans 60% of Pluto’s equator, NASA reports
NASA reveals Pluto’s equator has towering methane ice spires

The skyscraper size of methane ice might cover around 60% of the equatorial region of Pluto, a larger area than astronomers actually estimated. This study was published on July 5, 2025 in the Journal of Geophysical Reserach. It was based on the data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft which captured close images of it around 10 years ago on July 14, 2025. Amid that flyby, the spacecraft located spires of methane ice, each is about 1000 feet tall.

Pluto's Methane Spires Span Vast Equatorial Zone with Uncertain Pattern

As per NASA's data they are separated to 4.4 miles in a shape which is somewhat parallel rows and form a geological feature which is called bladed terrain. The features seems to be larger and more spaced out verison of the penitentes of Earth which is a structure of water ice that creates a maximum of 9 feet. Almost the same structure was observed on Jupiter's moon named Europa and also might be there on Mars.

Additional data collected at infrared frequencies signaled that the dwarf planet's most of the region was methane rich, which shows that the spires are too. The results show that the bladed terrain of methane ice spires exists in a band that spans about 60% of the circumference of the planet.

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Future Missions Needed to Confirm Pluto's Mysterious Methane Landscape

This is equal to five times the width of the United States continental part, majority spotted on non-encounter hemispheres. However, it is still nort sure if the band is patchy or even. The band spans between 30 degrees south and north of the equator of Pluto.

Bladed terrain formation relies on methane's long term cycle condensation and sublimation. These are controlled by the season of Pluto and its orbital variations. Straight evidence would be required to confirm the recent observations by the scientists. The most certain way to confirm the extension of bladed terrain into the dark side of Pluto is the future spacecraft mission.

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